Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a long-term condition caused by malfunctioning (incompetent) valves in the veins. It may also occur as the result of a past blood clot in the legs. CVI is a medical condition where the valves of the vein do not fully close and permit blood to travel upstream. The condition causes blood to pool in the legs. FIGS. 1A-1B illustrate an exemplary vein having a properly functioning valve in which blood may pass through the vein in a single direction back to the heart. FIGS. 1C-1D illustrate an exemplary vein suffering from chronic venous insufficiency in which the vein valve does not fully close and thereby permits blood to flow away from the heart. Typical symptoms include swelling of the legs, varicose veins and ulcers.
Currently, the only effective way to replace a damaged valve is surgery to either modify an existing valve or create a new valve by separating venous wall layers. However, these methods are extremely invasive and require the external access to the vein through dissection. FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate an exemplary deep venous reconstruction surgery in which the vein is opened in FIG. 2A, the venous layers are dissected in FIG. 2B, and a valve is created from the dissected layers in FIG. 2C. As illustrated, the surgery is very invasive requiring external vein dissection, reconstruction, and closure.